Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Arts in Lesotho and the Morija Art Centre



Lesotho isn't known for a vibrant arts and crafts scene as with other African countries. In 2007 when I first arrived in Lesotho, I was personally disappointed in the seeming lack of visual arts in this tiny country. While visual arts are not mainstream in Lesotho, the truth is you can find beautiful art in Lesotho if you know where to go. It is more difficult to find arts and crafts in the rural, mountain areas of Lesotho - though there are small pockets of artists out there. However, there are a number of small organizations of Basotho artists and artisans in the lowlands that are very accessible for tourists and local art lovers.

Morija and TY are two areas of Lesotho where the visual arts are prominent. The Morija Arts Centre, located near the Morija Museum & Archives, opened in 2011 as a dynamic community space for artists at all levels from professional artists to emerging potters to imaginative school students. All are welcome at the Morija Art Center including curious visitors. The Maeder House Art Gallery is right next door with Basotho paintings, pottery, and crafts for sale. Setsoto Design and Basali Weavers in TY are active weaver groups creating woven crafts. From small coin purses to large wall-hangings, everything is woven out of mo-hair wool. Most small pieces like coin purses feature colorful patterns, and the woven wall-hangings often contain scenes of Basotho women, traditional rondavels, or Lesotho landscapes. Both Morija and TY, or Teyateyaneng, are close to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, if you are traveling by car.
Morija Art Centre
As mentioned in my last blog post, I am currently an artist in residence at the Morija Arts Centre. The Art Centre consists of three attached studios and outside covered studio space called the "Art Tents". The largest indoor studio holds the pottery materials, pottery, and an electric kiln. The medium studio contains a large table, bookshelves for the "Art Library", and a computer. The third and smallest room is used mostly for storage, also contains a small table, and is now effectively my studio during my residency. Lesotho-born artist Patrick Rorke runs the art centre and the Maeder House Art Gallery. He lived in Johannesburg for many years with his family before returning to Lesotho in 2011 and opening the Morija Art Centre. He has created a comfortable, casual space for Basotho to come and create whatever they like.
Upon my arrival in February, I was both pleased and horrified that Patrick was running a large government-sponsored workshop at the Art Centre. The 20+ Basotho trainees were split into four tracks - pottery, painting, mosaic, and animation - and worked on their own projects simultaneously.  The workshop forced me to interact directly with Basotho artists right away with positive and negative effects - navigating limited space, trying to speak Sesotho, watching artists at work, learning what interested and excited these Basotho artists. I have met some talented and driven Basotho artists through this workshop whom I will collaborate with during my artist residency. Probably the most exciting development for me during this workshop has been rediscovering my passion for animation. I never thought I would be creating animations in Lesotho! Using the materials at hand, a few young trainees, Patrick and I have been creating very short, stop-motion animations. I will post a few videos once I am able to upload them to YouTube. I have also been trying to draw and paint portraits of Basotho, but frankly I am having a hard time doing anything else other than the animation.
I am really enjoying my time in Morija, Lesotho.